Editor:

With all the negative stuff we seem to hear so much about, here's how a small act of kindness can turn into something bigger.

At the checkout line at the supermarket recently, my husband and I offered to let the gentleman behind us go ahead of us in the checkout line. We were not in a hurry, and the gentleman had only two or three items. The gentleman smiled, thanked us, and moved ahead of us in the line. We thought nothing more about it, until it came time for us to pay our grocery bill. Turns out that the gentleman we let go ahead of us in line paid for most of our bill! He gave the checker a $100 bill to pay for his few items, the remainder of the money, his change, he had the checker credit to our bill. What a nice surprise!

Ironically, when we first pulled into the parking lot of the supermarket before shopping, I noticed that the license plate of the car parked in front of us had a personalized plate which said, through letters and numbers, "pay it forward!" It makes you just want to say, hmmmmmm ...

Kathleen Brubaker, McKinleyville